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Love VI: 15

Left.
心あひの風いづかたへ吹かぬらん我には散らす言の葉もなし

kokoro ai no
kaze izukata e
fukanuran
ware ni wa chirasu
koto no ha mo nashi
This pleasant
Breeze: whither
Does it blow?
To me not one scattered
Leaf or word has it delivered.

Kenshō.
929

Right (Win).
色に出し言の葉もみなかれはてゝ涙を散らす風の音哉

iro ni idashi
koto no ha mo mina
karehatete
namida o chirasu
kaze no oto kana
The bright hues of passion
In these leaves and your words
Have all withered away;
Tears scattering with
The sound of the wind…

Lord Takanobu.
930

The Right state: ‘Breeze: whither’ (kaze izukata e) seems lacking. The Left state: the Right’s poem has no faults to indicate.

In judgement: in the Left’s poem, I wonder whether ‘breeze: wither’ really is lacking. ‘This pleasant’ (kokoro no ai) would seem to be an expression deriving from ‘At the head of the road’. I seem to recall it coming after ‘In Kofu in Takefu / Will I be’, but that is not a suitable source. The Right’s poem, as the Gentlemen of the Left have said, appears to have no faults. It should win.

Love V: 11

Left (Win).
葉を若みまだふし馴れぬ呉竹のこはしほるべき露の上かは

ha o wakami
mada fushinarenu
kuretake no
ko wa shiorubeki
tsuyu no ue ka wa
Fresh leaved, and
Not yet grown to knots in bed,
A bamboo
Maid: will she draw the
Kindly dew upon her?

Lord Sada’ie.
861

Right.
情なき風に従ふ姫百合は露けきことやならはざるらん

nasakenaki
kaze ni shitagau
himeyuri wa
tsuyukeki koto ya
narawazaruran
The heartless
Wind brushes
A young star lily:
To being dew drenched
Is she, perhaps, unaccustomed?

Lord Tsune’ie.
862

The Right state: the Left’s poem has not faults to indicate. The Left state: the Right’s poem lacks the conception of Love.

In judgement: the Left uses ‘bamboo’ (kuretake) and the Right ‘star lily’ (himeyuri): although the Left’s ‘Maid: will she draw’ (ko wa shiorubeki) does not seem possible to accept on grounds of style, but the Right, in addition to also lacking much conception of Love, has ‘heartless wind’ (nasakenaki kaze) which sounds poor. Thus, the Left should win, I think.